Kassandra graduated Magna Cum Laude from Columbia University, where she earned a B.A. in education and psychology, and she went on to complete graduate programs at Cambridge University and the Ecole Normale Superieure, where, respectively, she studied ESL-teaching and cognitive science as it pertains to attention regulation and language processing. Her cognitive science studies were especially focused on attention regulation and language processing. Her academic background helps her create reading, writing, and spelling lessons tailored specifically to the needs and learning styles of her students, including ones with ADHD, dyslexia, and/or dysgraphia, with an awareness that, in order to learn effectively, one has to be interested in the content. 

 

One of her biggest passions has been working directly with students, ranging from elementary schoolers to high school students. Besides one-on-one tutoring, her experience includes designing and implementing original curricula for the ADHD-treatment summer program at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center; providing English, science, and social studies lessons for 5th and 6th graders, resulting in a 100% pass rate and a 90% High Pass rate on their Cambridge English exams; and providing over 1,000 hours of one-on-one lessons for Chinese ESL students preparing for study at top U.S. universities. She has guided students through application-essay writing for top colleges and graduate schools, and she is available to provide expert tutoring in reading, writing, and spelling remediation; the reading and writing sections of the GRE, ACT, SAT, ISEE, SSAT, and SHSAT; and academic subjects that include biology, statistics, probability, Algebra, U.S. History, and all social sciences.   

 

Above all, Kassandra loves sharing her passion for reading and writing. Her favorite part of tutoring is witnessing a student’s “ah-ha” moment in essay writing, during which the ideas finally come together and begin to flow out onto the page. 

 

Some of her all-time favorite books include classics like Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Oliver Sack’s The Man Who Confused His Wife for a Hat, and, of course, J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter. Currently, she is engrossed in the novel José, a 19th-century Spanish tale about a poor fisherman who desires more than what his humble background can provide.